Free for a Fee

The lawsuit-happy companies often called “patent trolls” have made so many brash moves over crazy inventions in the past year. In 2013 alone, a troll won an appeals ruling upholding a patent on watching ads online; another sent out letters to thousands of small companies asking for fees for using networked scanners.What’s a troll got to do to get some attention these days? 

Here’s one company that nailed it this month: Red Pine Point LLC. The Nevada LLC patented the idea of downloading movies and watching them before they’ve been released in theaters.